Brefni O'Rorke

Brefni O'Rorke (26 June 1889 – 11 November 1946) was an Irish actor, both on the stage and in movies.

Early life O'Rorke was born as William Francis Breffni O'Rorke at 2 Esplande Villas in Dollymount, Clontarf, Dublin on 26 June 1889, and baptised at Clontarf Parish Church on 1 August 1889. His father, Frederick O'Rorke, was a cork merchant, and his mother, Jane Caroline O'Rorke, née Morgan, was an actress. He had an older brother, Frederick, who was twelve years older than him.

Career O'Rorke began studying acting with his mother and made his professional début in 1912 at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in a production of Shaw's John Bull's Other Island. While still living in Dublin, he met and married in 1916 Alice Cole, a chorus-girl turned actress, who had divorced her first husband and immigrated from South Africa with her young son. Thus O'Rorke became the stepfather of Cyril Cusack. Other theatre roles included the title role in Finn Varra Maa (1917), a musical "pantomime" (or rather, light opera) written by Thomas Henry Nally with music by Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer.

In 1939 he appeared in several broadcasts in the new fledgling BBC television broadcast, including a play by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy called The King of Spain's Daughter, and produced by Denis Johnston.

Partial filmography

The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941) – Sergeant MacFarlane This Man Is Dangerous (1941) – Dr Crosbie Love on the Dole (1941) – Dole Officer (uncredited) Cottage to Let (1941) – Scottish Police Inspector (uncredited) Jeannie (1941) – Quarantine Officer The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) – Ministry receptionist (uncredited) Hatter’s Castle (1942) – Foyle The Missing Million (1942) – Coleman The Next of Kin (1942) – Brigadier Blunt The Day Will Dawn (1942) – Political journalist They Flew Alone (1942) – Mac Unpublished Story (1942) – Denton The First of the Few (1942) – Specialist Secret Mission (1942) – Father Jouvet Much Too Shy (1942) – Mr Somers King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) – Colonel Duncannon We'll Meet Again (1943) – Dr Drake Tomorrow We Live (1943) – Moreau The Flemish Farm (1943) – Minister Escape to Danger (1943) – Security Officer They Met in the Dark (1943) – Detective Inspector Burrows The Lamp Still Burns (1943) – Mr Lorrimer The Hundred Pound Window (1944) – Kennedy Tawny Pipit (1944) – Uncle Arthur It Happened One Sunday (1944) – Engineer Don't Take It to Heart (1944) – Lord Chaunduyt Men of Rochdale (1944) – Miles Ashworth Twilight Hour (1945) – Richard Melville They Were Sisters (1945) – Coroner Waltz Time (1945) – Emperor Perfect Strangers (1945) – Mr Hargrove Murder in Reverse (1945) – Sullivan The Rake's Progress (1945) – Bromhead The Voice Within (1945) – Sergeant Sullivan I See a Dark Stranger (1946) – Michael O'Callaghanposthumous complete: The Root of All Evil (1947) – Farnish Green Fingers (1947) – Coroner The Upturned Glass (1947) – Dr Farrell Jassy (1947) – Fielding, footman (uncredited) (final film role)

Television National Television started in October 1936, initially broadcast just two hours a day. The station stopped broadcasting at the start of the War, and didn't restart until 1946.

"Plays" (like everything else) could last just one hour maximum, but some were only 25 minutes long. Also, there was no recording possible, so any repeat was really a new broadcast (as in The Advantages of Paternity).

Dramas

The King of Spain's Daughter Writer Teresa Deevy Producer Denis Johnston Annie Kinsella Phyllis Ryan Peter Kinsella Brefni O'Rorke Mrs Marks Ann Clery Jim Harris Patrick Boxill Roddy Mann Tony Quinn The Advantages of Paternity A comedy by Horton Giddy. Author Horton Giddy Producer Denis Johnston General Yagunin Brefni O'Rorke Colonel Ilyitch Frank Thornton-Bassett Brunov Erik Chitty Orderly Stuart Latham Good Morning, Bill! A comedy by P. G. Wodehouse. Author P. G. Wodehouse Producer Royston Morley Bill Peter Haddon Lord Tidmouth Michael Shipley Sir Hugo Drake Brefni O'Rorke

Others

Death at Newton-Stewart A reconstruction of an unparalleled murder of the 'seventies [1870s], extracted from the records of the Ulster Assizes. Producer Denis Johnston , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , The Parnell Commission A reconstruction of the famous forgery investigation of 1888–89 Producer Denis Johnston Piggott Eliot Makeham Sir Charles Russel Felix Aylmer Parnell Mark Dignam Attorney General Wilfrid Walter Eye Witness Brefni O'Rorke Mrs O'Shea Olga Edwardes President of the Court Graveley Edwards Timothy Harrington Blake Giffard Doctor Maguire Nigel Fitzgerald Henniker Heaton Lionel Dymoke Frank Hugh O'Donnell Harry Hutchinson Court Registrar Leo McCabe Captain O'Shea Charles Oliver Friend Micheline Patton Servant at Eltham Moya Devlin Solicitor's Clerk Russell Hogarth Spanish Policeman Rafael Terry ReporterHouston's Voice Kenneth Barton [Actor] Jack Clifford